Men's Track & Field

Matt Gittermann returns for his sixth year
after joining UMBC in 2008 as the head cross country coach and
assistant track and field coach in charge of distance
events. Gittermann previously served as the cross country and
track and field coach at Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City,
Md., since August 2004. Six of Gittermann’s UMBC
student-athletes have won individual America East titles, 26
individuals and nine relay teams qualified for the IC4A/ECAC
Championships, two individuals have qualified for the NCAA East
Preliminary Rounds and 13 have broken school records.

Academically, Gittermann’s cross country teams have led
the university on numerous occasions in Team GPA, placed eleven
members on All-America East Academic Teams, and his
women’s team received “Special National
Recognition” for Women’s Team APR from the NCAA in
2012.

In 2012, Gittermann’s men’s and women’s cross
country teams had some of their strongest years in the recent
history of UMBC. The men’s team finished third in the
conference cross country championships, the second-highest placing
for them since entering the America East. They were led by
All-Conference runner Brandan McGee who finished seventh overall
and was quickly followed by the rest of the varsity squad which
placed seven runners in the top 26. In addition, the men’s
team blitzed the record books running a majority of the Top 10
fastest times in school history in cross country across all
distances. Indoor track saw Andrew Smith win the 800 meter dash and
anchor the Conference winning 4x800 meter relay while the women
would shatter the Distance Medley Relay school record. At the
Outdoor Conference Championship Hassan Omar won the 10,000 meters,
Andrew Keresztes won the 800 meters, and Jake Albino would break
the school record in the 1,500 meters. Omar and Albino would go on
to win All-IC4A honors at the IC4A Championships. Gittermann was
also honored as part of the America East Women’s Indoor and
Men’s Outdoor Coaching Staff of the Year.

In 2011, the men’s cross country team built on the success
of the previous year and spent most of the season ranked in the
Mid-Atlantic Region. The indoor track season saw three athletes
qualify in the 800 meters for the IC4A Championships. Outdoors
brought with it a new school record in the women’s
steeplechase by Keri Wilson, in addition to a conference
championship and new school record in the men’s steeplechase
by Brandan McGee. McGee would then advance to the NCAA Preliminary
rounds in the steeple chase, the first distance runner since 2008
to advance.

In his third season, the cross country teams rebounded after a
tough second year to move up in conference standings, led by the
men’s fifth-place finish at the conference meet and a
13th-place finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region meet. In the
track seasons, Gittermann’s teams began to reset the record
books. During the indoor track season, his distance medley relay
team of Michael Christmas, Andrew Smith, Roy Jones, and Chris
Snyder finished second at the conference meet, but shattered the
old school record to the tune of 9:49. Christmas would also take
over control of the 800-meter school record during the indoor and
outdoor seasons, while Snyder would break the record in the outdoor
3,000 meters. Sara Parkinson would add the 3,000-meter school
record to her list of accomplishments during the indoor season, and
would break the 1,500-meter, 3,000-meter, and 5,000-meter records
during the outdoor campaign.

In 2009, Gittermann’s second season, Sara Parkinson earned
All-Conference honors for the second consecutive season at the
America East Conference Cross Country Championships and was named
to the Academic All-District II First Team. Her performances helped
lead the women’s cross country team to their first team
ranking in the Mid-Atlantic polls in quite some time. She would
continue her strong year into indoor where she would break the
school record in the 5,000-meters en route to a conference
championship title.

In his first season at UMBC, Gittermann’s men’s team
won the Towson Invite in only his third meet at the helm, which in
turn led to a UMBC’s entrance into the NCAA Mid-Atlantic
Regional Rankings. Gittermann finished out the season producing two
America East All-Conference honorees in Sara Parkinson and Anthony
Kelhower as the men finished fifth and the women eighth at the
America East Conference Championship meet.

All four of his boys’ cross country teams at Mount Hebron
(2A/3A) had finished among the top eight in the state
championships, peaking with a fourth-place finish in 2007. The
Mount Hebron girls’ program also rose to prominence,
finishing third at the state championships in 2007. The track
programs were also extremely strong under Gittermann’s
leadership. His 2005 boys’ indoor team and 2007 girls’
outdoor squad both finished as runners-up at the state
championships. Overall, Mount Hebron broke more than 80 school
records, produced 15 individual state champions and one
All-American during Gittermann’s tenure.

Gittermann started his coaching career as head track and field
coach at neighboring Hammond High School in the fall of 2003. The
January 2003 graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea,
Ohio, earned four letters in cross country and three in track
and field.

The Lewiston, N.Y., native earned his bachelor’s degree in
middle childhood education from Baldwin-Wallace and completed his
master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with
administrative focus from McDaniel College in May 2008.

Gittermann currently teaches science in the Howard County Public
School System. He has a USATF Level II Certification in sprints,
hurdles, relays and endurance. Additionally, he was one of 20
collegiate and high school coaches selected to attend the
USATF/United States Olympic Committee Emerging Elite Endurance
Coaching Clinic at the Olympic Training Facility at Chula Vista,
Calif.

Gittermann resides in Columbia, Md. with his wife, Megan,
and their daughters, Ryleigh and McKena.